GCSE results: History papers 'lost in transit' from Guildford school

Pupils at St Peter's School in Guildford got their results on Thursday

Share

Get daily updates directly to your inbox

Thank you for subscribing!

Could not subscribe, try again laterInvalid Email

GCSE students and their parents were left outraged on Thursday after an exam board admitted basing GCSE grades on two-thirds of completed work - because one of two sets of exam papers were lost.

The missing papers, which should have made up 37% of each grade, were "lost in transit" after a history exam at St Peter’s Catholic School in Guildford on Wednesday June 10.

As a result, some pupils are thought to have achieved a lower grade than predicted, with some A and A* students receiving B grades instead.

Amanda Ellis was left in disbelief when her daughter, Rebecca, opened her results on Thursday morning, only to to find a letter from exam board AQA apologising for the loss.

Mrs Ellis said: “It stated they had lost her paper and had given grades based on coursework and the first exam paper she had taken.

"At first I couldn’t believe it, then I was so angry and I am so disappointed for Rebecca.

"If they find the papers, they will grade them no lower than the mark they have already been given - but Rebecca is disappointed with her mark and could have got a grade higher.

"She has a good grade but the exam was more than two months ago, why are they only telling us now? I think she would have a better grade if they had not lost them.”

The history GCSE was divided into three modules for assessment – a three-part exam in May about the Cold War worth 37% of the final grade, submission of coursework about the Second World War worth 25%, and a final three-part exam about the Vietnam War, 1920s America and Nazi Germany.

It was the final paper which was lost, with one pupil saying around 90 students are affected.

'Frustrating'

Rebecca, 16, said she is frustrated for herself and her friends, who were hoping to do the subject at A-level and are now unsure if they can.

“I worked really hard and that paper was the most important one and I definitely got the most marks in,” she said. “I did better in that exam compared to my coursework and my other exam so I thought I could make it to a high grade, because that is what you’re told by teachers. It is frustrating and I don’t think the final grade shows my potential.”

AQA confirmed the history scripts were missing and were lost after being sent directly from the school to the examiner, who was due to mark them in June.

In the letter to students, the exam board wrote ‘exam papers sat by students at St Peter’s School have been lost in transit and not yet recovered’ and said it "created estimated marks for the missing unit using marks attained in the other two contributing units".

A spokesman for AQA said: “On the rare occasion scripts go missing, we do everything we can to locate them.

“If they can’t be found, exam boards can give students a result based on how they have performed in other papers.

"It’s also what we do for students who have missed part of their exam because of illness or personal tragedy.”

Laura Brown’s daughter achieved an A* in one part of her history GCSE and a B in another and feels the final exam could have really made the difference.

Mrs Brown said: “It has left me feeling sad, even though these things happen, they have been let down. From the letter, it is like they have just given up and the estimate is the best offer right now.”